Podiatrists and other licensed professional practitioners such as orthotists, pedorthotists, and chiropractors have for some years provided therapeutic footwear for diabetics and other patients with a need for custom fitted therapeutic shoes and inserts. However, such practices have often proven unsatisfactory, time consuming and frequently less profitable than desired. The problem is that the practice is time consuming and frequently results in inconsistencies and poorly fitting shoes and inserts, a necessity to replace poorly fitting shoes and more recently to comply with the requirements of Medicare and other health care providers.
It is also common practice for licensed professional practitioners to measure a patient's foot, make a mold of a lower portion of the foot and ask a laboratory or manufacturer to make a custom fit therapeutic insert for placement in a shoe. Such laboratories typically work with a mold of a patient's foot, form a plaster cast from the mold and based on an examination of an imprint add or build up material on the plaster cast to provide an indentation when an insert is formed from the cast. In the past, such practices have led to poorly fitting accommodations and less than satisfactory inserts.
It is presently believed that there is a need for and/or a relatively large market for an improved method for providing custom fit therapeutic footwear, i.e. shoes and inserts for diabetic and other patients. There is a need because the improved methods disclosed herein minimize the work of a licensed professional practitioner, result in improved or better fitting shoes and inserts, reduce shoe and insert returns and needs for refitting and provide more accurate accommodations, all at a competitive cost.